Ambassador: Turkey ready to export Kirkuk oil via Kurdistan-Ceyhan pipeline

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – The Turkish Ambassador to Iraq says Turkey is ready to cooperate with Iraq to export crude oil from Kirkuk through the Kurdistan Region-Ceyhan pipeline.

Fatih Yildiz, Turkey’s Ambassador to Iraq, and Mahdi al-Alaq, the General Secretary of the Iraqi Council of Ministers, discussed bilateral relations between Ankara and Baghdad in a recent meeting as well as ways to strengthen economic ties between the two sides, a statement from Alaq’s office read.

The Turkish Ambassador expressed his country’s readiness to resume oil exports from the disputed Kirkuk oil fields through the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG)-owned pipeline, and open a direct border crossing with Iraq, it added.

According to the statement, Yildiz emphasized the deep ties between Iraq and Turkey and his country’s commitment to the Kuwait International Conference findings regarding the reconstruction of war-torn areas in Iraq.

Meanwhile, Alaq highlighted the common relations between Ankara and Baghdad and underlined the importance of reaching a mechanism for cooperation between the two countries in the energy and investment sectors through the expansion of future Turkish projects.

The Iraqi official also addressed the development of Turkish projects related to Mosul and Kirkuk airports and border crossings as well as finalizing the Turkish companies’ financial dues.

The Kurdistan Region has repeatedly made offers to Baghdad to export Kirkuk’s oil to Turkey through Kurdistan’s pipeline and has even suggested an Iraqi oil company take the lead on marketing. However, there has been no response from the Iraqi government so far.

On Aug. 14, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi met with his Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara to discuss several topics, among them: the resumption of oil exports from Kirkuk.

Editing by Karzan Sulaivany